Mission Serve celebrates 10th year by improving six local houses

The Walterboro Mission Serve is in its 10th anniversary this week and is celebrating by helping to restore six houses and working on several other projects.
The Mission Serve group consists of more than 175 volunteers who have come to Colleton County from other states. These states include North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland and even includes volunteers from other parts of the Palmetto State.
“Locally, it’s really hard to put a number on how many volunteers we actually have here working,” said Scott Hannah, project coordinator for the local Mission Serve effort. Nationally, Mission Serve is a Christian-based project that uses volunteerism to help improve housing for those in need. The national organization was created in 2003 by two men – Andy Morris and Chuck Morris.
This year, Mission Serve is working from July 8-15. During this time, students and other volunteers are staying at Colleton County High School. Local churches are helping to pay for lunches for the volunteers, and the Colleton County School District’s Food Services Department prepares the group’s daily breakfast and dinners.
According to Hannah, there are 17 “squads,” or groups, of volunteers. A host church in Colleton County sponsors one squad. This sponsorship supports food preparation and costs for the team.
This week, the squads are replacing six roofs on houses of Colleton residents. The Mission Serve volunteers are also building two wheelchair ramps this week and are renovating and repainting one house. Three of the six homes that are getting new roofs are also getting repairs and fresh paint said Hannah.

“It’s amazing, absolutely amazing, to see this happening here,” he said. Hannah is in his second year as a project coordinator in Colleton County for Mission Serve. He has been involved in World Changers and Mission Serve for “quite some time,” he said. His residency in Colleton County actually began about four years ago when he was here visiting from North Carolinas part of a Mission Serve group.
“I had always been a worship leader and I was looking to move into the pastoral area, into preaching and teaching. When I came here, I had already been in touch with churches from across the country,” he said. “ My host church at that time was Black Creek Baptist Church here in Colleton County. They approached me and they asked me if God ever called me to be a preacher.
“The truth of the matter was I had already sent out several resumes and was waiting to get something back. That was God working,” he said. Hannah then accepted their proposal and has been working in Colleton County for the last four years. “It became more and more clear that this is what I was supposed to do,” said Hannah.
The people who were chosen to receive assistance this week in Colleton County were selected through churches in Colleton County and through input from the Colleton Baptist Association and from FEMA-based projects.
One project is generally estimated to cost between $25,000-$30,000. This price which includes lodging, materials, and food. “It varies on the type of project, but as a general rule of thumb we have to have at least $20,000 in our bank account to even have a project,” he said. This money is raised all year through Colleton-area churches and through individual donations from Colleton residents. “The churches really go above and beyond in helping to raise this money, and you have others who give private donations. It’s really a community event,” he said.